Water purification process



Patented Jan. 3, 1933 V UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE I OLI VER M. UBBAIN,F COLUMBUS, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO CHARLES LEWIS, OF

HABPSTEB, OHIO WATER PURIFICATION PROCESS No Drawing. Application fliedOctober 12, 1931. Serial No. 568,523.

This invention relates to the art of water slightly alkaline withammonia. There purification and comprehends a process for should bepresent from 10 to 20 ppm of an removing certain .contaminatingsubstances ammonlum salt or ammonium hydroxide.

th r fro Examples of reactions are as follows It is a specific object ofthe invention to 55 provide a process for the removal of alde- (1) ggPggggfigg ydes and ketones from water. These sub- H +H20 stances have asubstantial biochemical oxyphenylhydrozone aldehyde water gen demand andare thus very polluting 1n (2) 2R' CH0NH NH= 10 character. aldehydehydrazine 60 The aldehydes have a greater biochemical oxygen demand thanthe ketones which is as mine aldehyd We would expect as the l y fare'mor? The phenylhydrazine used in the first rereactive. The ten daybiochemlc l yg action is a substituted derivative of hydrazine demand at0- Of some of the more while in the second reaction we use the pure 65-mon ketones and aldehydes are 'ven in the d Th 1 0d following table.The values for iochemical g g fi 8 en pr uc S are Insoluble oxy endemand are for solutions of the al- Exam 188 of the h draZ-nes h bdehydes and ketones containing 10 ppm. used arepgiven as fogows y 6 702O substance Phenylhydrazine-C ,;H NHlIH ,c; m or p-tolylhydraz1ne-K912311881 v CH3CQH4-NH-NH2 W p-nitrophenylhydrazine g y 18 (LN.C H NHNH75 1 'g e y;; 19 1 0r naphthyllnydrazine-C HNILNH Acetaldehy "'IIIII:The compound formed by the above examplary reactions is colloidal whensolutions The aldehydes have the general formula t ining only a fewparts per million of R-CHO (where R'equals or any hydr the aldehyde orketone are treated. When, 80 carbon radical, either substituted orunsubhowever, more t t d l ti are stituted). treated, the compoundformed precipitates The ketones 00111141111 the Carbonyl p g readily.While the compounds are soluble C=O as do the aldehydes- The time instrong alkali, they are insoluble in calh .des have one of the freevalences of the in h d 1 h C=O group replaced by a hydrocarbon y mm 6 sou Ions avmg below radical, the other free valence being bound Inadapting this Process to any Waste it to hydrogen Ketones have both. isfirst necessary to know the aldehyde and 40 1911665 bound hydrocarbonradlcals ketone content of the waste. Then to de- 99 termine the amountof ammonium salts or 0:0 aldehyde; mom ammonium hydroxide present in thewaste. a All putrefying organic wastes contain am- The reagent which isemployed in the procmomum Salts E y Tree amlnonlfi- In ess to effectremoval of the aldehydes and most Cases 1t Wl11 be u aryto add theketones from water solutions is hydrazine mm l Whl h f n lons as acatalyst as it or its substituted derivatives which have two will befound to be present. For example, replaceable hydrogen atoms bound toone even the weak municipal sewages contain nitrogen atom. ammoniumsaltsequivalent to from 10 to 25 The reaction takes place in a solutionppm of ammomum hydroxide. When the 109 content of aldehyde and ketone isknown, it

,then is only necessar to add the equivalent reactive amounts of t eprecipitant.

The process, it will be observed, enables the 5 successful removal ofcontaminating aldehydes and ketones from Water vsolutions con= wetaining such substances. The foregoing de scription is merelyillustrative, theinvention bein restricted only by the scope of the ap*pen ed claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A process for removing aldehydes from water solutions comprisingtreating the solution with hydrazine in the presence of ammonia orammonium salt.

2'. process for removing aldehydes from water solutions comprisingtreating the solution with hydrazine or a derivative thereof having tworeplaceable hydrogen atoms bound to one nitrogen atom in'the presence ofammonia or ammonium salt.

3. A process for removing ketones from water solutions comprisingtreating the solution with hydrazine in the presence of ammonia orammonium salt.

4. A process for removing ketones from water solutions comprisingtreating the solution with hydrazine or a derivative thereof having tworeplaceable hydrogen atoms bound to one nitrogen atom in the presence ofammonia or ammonium salt.

5. A process for removing aldehydes and ketones from water solutionscomprising maintaining the solution slightly alkaline with ammonia andincorporating therein a quantity of hydrazine or a derivative thereofhaving two replaceable hydrogen atoms bound to one nitrogen atom in anamount adequate to react with the aldehydes and ketones and form aprecipitate.

OLIVER M. URBAIN.

